Lexington firefighters battle large fire at shopping center

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Multiple crews of Lexington firefighters spent the night on the scene of a large fire that broke out at a shopping center.

The fire began just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday in a shopping center on West New Circle Road, near Russell Cave Road. Firefighters said the fire started inside of the San Panchos restaurant, then spread to the Family Dollar next door.

When crews got here, flames were shooting out of the roof. Firefighters say they aggressively attacked the fire from inside, before the walls became too unstable.

There were no employees inside the building at the time of the fire.

The fire was so intense that it actually damaged one of the fire trucks on scene.

"The building that was containing the fire, it erupted. Ladder three was over (top of) the fire. The tip of the hose, some of those parts are plastic and rubber so, we had to take it out of service," said Battalion Chief Wayne Scott.

Crews were still on the location hours later, putting out hot spots.

Lexington fire officials tell WKYT that they will be on the scene for most of the day on Friday. They also say that they will have to knock down a wall in the building that is no longer secure enough to stand.

Crews will have to finish securing the buildings before they can begin investigating the cause of the fire.

The owner of building plans to put up a chain link fence on Saturday. Business owners within the shopping center have also begun changing locks on their doors to secure their property.

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